1887 Halloween tropical storm
IBTrACS | |
Part of the 1887 Atlantic hurricane season |
The 1887 Halloween tropical storm was a late-season
The storm affected the town of Norfolk, where it became the most damaging storm since 1879. Despite the damage inland, the storm is best known for the unusually high number of shipwrecks and maritime incidents it caused. One ship, a schooner called the Manantico, capsized, killing the captain and one of its crew members. Three other ships were driven ashore on Virginia beaches from False Cape to Cape Henry, and numerous others were put in danger.
Meteorological history
The storm originated from an area of disturbed weather that had persisted in the
The extratropical cyclone moved away from the coast and strengthened to the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane on the modern-day
Impact
In its formative stages, the storm was responsible for causing rain from the
Despite causing damage along the East Coast, the storm is best known for causing a record number of maritime incidents.[6] Numerous ships were caught in the storm from October 30, when the steamship Claribel reported gale-force winds, to November 6, when another steamship, the Australia, reported stormy weather. One ship, the brig Osseo, was caught in the storm on November 1 and became flooded. Although the pumps were manned, the water level inside the ship soon reached 4 ft (1.2 m). After being carried away by a wave, the distressed ship was spotted by the Camalia, which rescued the crew and brought them to port. Another vessel, the Wyonoka, spotted a sunken schooner with its five crew grasping the mast and ropes: they were also rescued.[3] In addition, four ships were deemed total losses after being beached in Virginia. The first was the Mary D. Cranmer, which was ripped from its cables and stranded near Cape Henry. Shortly after the rescue of the crew of the Cranmer another ship, the Carrie Holmes, was found beached. The ship had been driven so far up the beach that its crew were able to jump and wade to safety.[5]
A third ship, the Manantico also crashed into shore due to a combination of the storm and human error in which the captain confused Cape Henry with Cape Charles after spotting another schooner. The Manantico was also where the two deaths associated with the storm occurred. The first was when a cook on the ship was crushed to death by the cargo of lumber being hauled by the ship. The ship was then pushed towards a sand bar. The captain, who had stayed high on the starboard side for safety, began climbing down to slip the ship cables, but the ship made a sudden stop. This flung the captain into the water, and he drowned. Both bodies were found after the storm and were very disfigured. The captain was sent to Middletown, Connecticut for interment while the body of the cook was buried on the beach.[7] The final ship was the Harriet Thomas, which was the schooner spotted by the Manantico. After beaching, the crew managed to get a rope to shore where fishermen had tied the other end. The crew were able to climb ashore, although the captain had to be rescued via alternate means due to being too heavy for this method. The ship was written off as a $7,000 (1887 USD) loss. Although all four ships were beached, due to the loss of communications, only one wreck – that of the Mary D. Cranmer – was reported in the Norfolk Virginian newspaper. As a result, news of the two deaths from the Manantico were initially unreported.[5]
See also
- List of Atlantic hurricanes
- 1887 Atlantic hurricane season
References
- ^ a b c United States Signal Service (1887). "Monthly Weather Review: Areas of Low Pressure: X" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-01-12.
- ^ a b c National Hurricane Center (2011). "Atlantic Best Track Data 1851–2010". Retrieved 2012-01-12.
- ^ a b c d e Partagas, Jose Fernandez; Dias, H. F. (1996). "A Reconstruction of Historical Tropical Cyclone Frequency in the Atlantic from Documentary and other Historical Sources Part III: 1881–1890: 1887b" (PDF). NOAA. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
- ^ a b Landsea, Chris; et al. (2005). "Documentation of Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Changes in HURDAT". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Hurricane Research Division. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-87033-352-1.
- ^ Roth, David M. (2001). "Late Nineteenth Century Virginia Hurricanes". Retrieved 2012-01-12.
- ^ United States Life-Saving Service (1889). Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1888. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 25–27. Retrieved 2012-01-12.